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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Vatican City, 12 February 2014 (VIS) –
The Eucharist and its relation to our life, as Church and as
Christians, was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during this
Wednesday's general audience in St. Peter's Square.

“How do we live the Eucharist …
when we go to Mass on a Sunday? What is it for us? Is it just an
opportunity to celebrate, a consolidated tradition, a way of getting
one's bearings and feeling better, or is it something more?” asked
the Holy Father, who then went on to indicate three signs for
understanding how we experience this relation.

The first is our way of living with
others. “In the Eucharist Christ renews the gift of Himself that He
made on the Cross”, he explained. “His entire life is an act of
the fullest sharing of Himself for love. This is why He loved to stay
with the disciples and with those He met. For Him, this meant sharing
their yearnings, their problems, that which stirred their soul and
their life. Now, when we participate in the Holy Mass, we find
ourselves with many people … but the Eucharist that I celebrate,
does it lead me to consider them as brothers and sisters? Does it
inspire me to go towards the poor, the sick, the marginalised? Does
it help me to recognise Christ's face in them?”

The grace of being forgiven and willing
to forgive is a second sign. “In reality, those who celebrate the
Eucharist do not do so because they believe themselves to be better,
or wish to appear better than others, but because they are aware that
they are always in need of being accepted and regenerated in God's
mercy, made flesh in Jesus Christ. If anyone among us does not feel
in need of God's mercy, if he does not consider himself to be a
sinner, it is better that he not go to Mass! We go to Mass because we
are sinners and because we wish to receive God's forgiveness, to
participate in Christ's redemption, his forgiveness. That 'I confess'
that we say at the beginning is not merely a 'pro forma', it is a
true act of penance! … In that bread and that wine we offer and
around which we gather, the gift of the body and blood of Christ for
the forgiveness of our sins is renewed every time. This best
summarises the deepest sense of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, and
in turn it opens our hearts to the forgiveness of our brothers and to
reconciliation”.

The relationship between the
Eucharistic celebration and the life of our Christian communities is
the third sign. “It must always be clear that the Eucharist is not
something that we do; it is not our commemoration of what Jesus said
and did. No. It is an act of Christ! It is a gift from Christ, Who is
made present and gathers us around Him, to nourish us with His Word
and His life. This means that the mission and the very identity of
the Church spring from this, from the Eucharist, and there they
assume their form. … a celebration may prove to be impeccable,
beautiful, from an external point of view, but if it does not lead to
an encounter with Jesus, the risk is that it does not lead to the
nourishment of our hearts and lives. Through the Eucharist, instead,
Christ wishes to enter into our existence and the permeate it with
his grace, so that in every Christian community there is coherence
between liturgy and life”.

The Pope concluded by encouraging us to
“live the Eucharist with a spirit of faith and prayer, of
forgiveness, of care for the needs of many of our brothers and
sisters, in the certainty that the Lord will grant that which he has
promised – eternal life”.

Following the catechesis the Pontiff
greeted, among others, a delegation from the Czech Republic, which
included a group of prelates from the Czech Bishops' Conference on
their “ad limina” visit. Pope Francis asked all those present to
pray for him and blessed the Czech Church and population, along with
the crowns for the Palladium of the Bohemian Lands, an ancient icon
of the Virgin Mary with the child Jesus which is venerated in Stara
Boleslav, a few kilometres from Prague, to which the people have
always appealed in times of war or danger for the country and the
Czech population.

Vatican City, 12 February 2014 (VIS) –
On Monday 10 February, at the seat of the Hungarian parliament in
Budapest, Archbishop Alberto Bottari de Castello, titular of Oderzo
and apostolic nuncio to Hungary, and Zoltan Balog, minister of human
resources in Hungary, exchanged the instruments of ratification of
the “Agreement between the Holy See and Hungary on the amendment of
the Agreement, signed on 20 June 1997, on the financing of public
service and other religious activities (“of the life of faith”)
undertaken in Hungary by the Catholic Church and on some issues of
property ownership, signed in Budapest on 21 October 2013.

The agreement, in conformity with
article 7 (2), will enter into force upon the exchange of the
instruments of ratification.

Vatican City, 12 February 2014 (VIS) –
On February 11 the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the
Holy See and the State of Israel met in plenary session in the David
Citadel Hotel, Jerusalem, to continue negotiations pursuant to
article 10, paragraph 2 of the “Fundamental Agreement”.

The meeting was chaired by Mr. Ze’ev
Elkin, deputy minister of foreign affairs and by Msgr. Antoine
Camilleri, under-secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States.

The Plenary received a report on the
few remaining issues concerning the Single Document. The Parties took
note of the progress achieved, in a thoughtful and constructive
atmosphere, since the last Plenary of June 2013, and agreed on future
steps, in view of the next Plenary meeting to be held in June 2014 in
Vatican City.

- appointed Fr. Antonio Carlos Cruz
Santos, M.S.C. as bishop of Caico (area 9,372, population 301,000,
Catholics 288,000, priests 89, permanent deacons 9, religious 104),
Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1961
and was ordained a priest in 1992. He studied philosophy at the
“Paulo VI” seminary in Nova Iguacu and theology at the Jesuit
faculty in Belo Horizonte, and holds a licentiate in philosophy from
the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais. He has held a
number of pastoral roles, including vicar of the “Pai Eterno e Sao
Jose” parish in Rio de Janeiro, formator of “Juniores” in
Contagem, Belo Horizonte, formator of postulants in Belford Roxo,
Nova Iguacu, and master of novices in Pirassununga, Limeira. He is
currently pro-provincial superior of the Society of Missionaries of
the Sacred Heart in Niteroi.

- appointed Bishop Nelson Francelino
Ferreira as bishop of Valenca (area 3,996, population 380,000,
Catholics 275,000, priests 31, religious 91), Brazil. Bishop Ferreira
was previously auxiliary of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro. He
succeeds Bishop Elias James Manning, O.F.M. Conv., whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted,
upon having reached the age limit.

- appointed Msgr. Edward Bernard
Scharfenberger as bishop of Albany (area 26,975, population
1,374,000, Catholics 337,200, priests 248, permanent deacons 105,
religious 774) U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Brooklyn, U.S.A.
in 1948 and was ordained a priest in 1973. He holds a bachelor's
degree in philosophy from the “Cathedral College of the Immaculate
Conception” in Douglaston, a bachelor's degree in theology from the
Pontifical Gregorian University, a licentiate in moral theology from
the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome, a licentiate in canon law from the
Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a “Juris
Doctor” in civil law from the Fordham University in the Bronx. He
has served in the following pastoral roles: vicar in the parish of
“St. Stanislaus Kostka” in Maspeth and the “St. Ephrem”
parish in Brooklyn; judicial vicar; priest in the “St. Matthias”
parish, Ridgewood; promoter of justice and episcopal vicar for
strategic planning. He is currently episcopal vicar for the territory
of Queens. He succeeds Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted,
upon having reached the age limit.

- appointed Fr. John Joale Tlhomola,
S.C.P., as bishop of Mohale's Hoek (area 5,799, population 691,000,
Catholics 416,200, priests 16, religious 94) Lesotho. The
bishop-elect was born in Pulane Ha Mosiuoa, Lesotho in 1966, gave his
solemn vows in 1995 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He has served
in the following pastoral roles: parish vicar and subsequently
priest-in-charge in the cathedral of Maseru; priest of the Christ the
Priest Mission, Motsekuoa; and bursar of the St. Augustine major
seminary and lecturer in liturgy and spirituality in the preparatory
seminary, Lesotho. He is currently director general of the Servants
of Christ the Priest in Hammanskraal, Pretoria, South Africa. He
succeeds Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I., whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon having reached the
age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Msgr. Andrzej Jerzy
Zglejszewski as auxiliary of the diocese of Rockville Centre (area
3,164, population 3,529,000, Catholics 1,738,000, priests 463,
permanent deacons 276, religious 1,250), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was
born in Bialystok, Poland in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1990.
He holds a master's degree in theology from the seminary of the
Immaculate Conception, Huntingdon. He has served in a number of
pastoral roles, including deputy priest of the “St. Christopher”
parish, Baldwin, the “St. Thomas the Apostle” parish in West
Hempstead, and the “St. Rose of Lima” parish, Massapequa, and
adjunct professor at the seminary of the Immaculate Conception,
Huntingdon. He has been director of the diocesan office of worship
since 2007 and co-chancellor of the diocese of Rockville Centre since
2012. He was named Chaplain of His Holiness in 2010.